A systematic approach for selecting lean strategies and assessing leanness in manufacturing organizations

Lean strategies have been developed to eliminate or reduce manufacturing waste and thus improve operational efficiency in manufacturing processes. However, implementing lean strategies requires a large amount of resources and, in practice, manufacturers encounter difficulties in selecting appropriate lean strategies within their resource constraints. There is currently no systematic methodology available for selecting appropriate lean strategies within a manufacturer's resource constraints. In the lean transformation process, it is also critical to measure the current and desired leanness levels in order to clearly evaluate lean implementation efforts. Despite the fact that many lean strategies are utilized to reduce or eliminate manufacturing waste, little effort has been directed towards properly assessing the leanness of manufacturing organizations. In practice, a single or specific group of metrics (either qualitative or quantitative) will only partially measure the overall leanness. Existing leanness assessment methodologies do not offer a comprehensive evaluation method, integrating both quantitative and qualitative lean measures into a single quantitative value for measuring the overall leanness of an organization. This research aims to develop mathematical models and a systematic methodology for selecting appropriate lean strategies and evaluating the leanness levels in manufacturing organizations. Mathematical models were formulated and a methodology was developed for selecting appropriate lean strategies within manufacturers' limited amount of available resources to reduce their identified wastes. A leanness assessment model was developed by using the fuzzy concept to assess the leanness level and to recommend an optimum leanness value for a manufacturing organization. In the proposed leanness assessment model, both quantitative and qualitative input factors have been taken into account. Based on program developed in MATLAB and C#, a decision support tool (DST) was developed for decision makers to select lean strategies and evaluate the leanness value based on the proposed models and methodology hence sustain the lean implementation efforts. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of these proposed models and methodology. Case study results suggested that out of 10 wastes identified, the case organization (ABC Limited) is able to improve a maximum of six wastes from the selected workstation within their resource limitations. The selected wastes are: unnecessary motion, setup time, unnecessary transportation, inappropriate processing, work in process and raw material inventory and suggested lean strategies are: 5S, Just-In-Time, Kanban System, the Visual Management System (VMS), Cellular Manufacturing, Standard Work Process using method-time measurement (MTM), and Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED). From the suggested lean strategies, the impact of 5S was demonstrated by measuring the leanness level of two different situations in ABC. After that, MTM was suggested as a standard work process for further improvement of the current leanness value. The initial status of the organization showed a leanness value of 0.12. By applying 5S, the leanness level significantly improved to reach 0.19 and the simulation of MTM as a standard work method shows the leanness value could be improved to 0.31. The optimum leanness value of ABC was calculated to be 0.64. These leanness values provided a quantitative indication of the impacts of improvement initiatives in terms of the overall leanness level to the case organization. Sensitivity analsysis and a t-test were also performed to validate the model proposed. This research advances the current knowledge base by developing mathematical models and methodologies to overcome lean strategy selection and leanness assessment problems. By selecting appropriate lean strategies, a manufacturer can better prioritize implementation efforts and resources to maximize the benefits of implementing lean strategies in their organization. The leanness index is used to evaluate an organization's current (before lean implementation) leanness state against the state after lean implementation and to establish benchmarking (the optimum leanness state). Hence, this research provides a continuous improvement tool for a lean manufacturing organization.

Natural and engineered plasmin inhibitors : applications and design strategies

Plasmin is the primary enzyme responsible for dissolution of fibrin in the circulatory system. Plasminogen, the zymogen of plasmin is expressed ubiquitously in the human body [1], with the predominant source being the liver [2, 3]. Plasminogen is produced as an 810 amino acid protein with a 19 amino acid leader peptide, which is cleaved during secretion to produce the mature 791 amino acid one-chain zymogen. This is converted to plasmin by cleavage of the Arg561 - Val562 scissile bond [4], resulting in an active protease consisting of two disulfide linked chains. The amino-terminal heavy chain (residues Glu1-Arg561) is comprised of a plasminogen/apple/nematode (PAN) domain [5] and five kringle domains of approximately equal size [6] while the light chain (residues Val562-Asn791) contains a serine protease domain homologous to trypsin with a catalytic triad comprising His603, Asp646 and Ser741 [7]. Both plasmin and plasminogen occur in two forms, full length and a Lys77-Lys78 activated variant produced through self catalysis (Figure 1). The former exists in a tight conformation through binding of Lys50 and/or Lys62 to kringle domain 5 [8, 9] while Lys78-plasminogen assumes a more relaxed conformation rendering it more susceptible to plasmin conversion [10, 11].

The challenges of adopting design-led innovative strategies in not for profits : the role of consumers, culture and employees

Major changes to regulations, funding and consumer demand in the Australian aged care industry are driving not for profits in this sector to reshape and rethink the services they offer and the ways in which they deliver their services to consumers. Many not for profit organisations facing these new challenges are also facing organisational cultural barriers in the development and implementation of innovative strategies. This paper presents a case study where one organisation, using design led innovation, explored consumer insights and employee values to find new ways to facilitate change.

Experiments with cooperative control of underwater robots

In this paper we describe cooperative control algorithms for robots and sensor nodes in an underwater environment. Cooperative navigation is defined as the ability of a coupled system of autonomous robots to pool their resources to achieve long-distance navigation and a larger controllability space. Other types of useful cooperation in underwater environments include: exchange of information such as data download and retasking; cooperative localization and tracking; and physical connection (docking) for tasks such as deployment of underwater sensor networks, collection of nodes and rescue of damaged robots. We present experimental results obtained with an underwater system that consists of two very different robots and a number of sensor network modules. We present the hardware and software architecture of this underwater system. We then describe various interactions between the robots and sensor nodes and between the two robots, including cooperative navigation. Finally, we describe our experiments with this underwater system and present data.

Learner strategy instruction and student uptake of strategies in a Japanese as a foreign language context

The Japanese language is recognised as being more difficult than European languages, needing three times more tuition time to reach comparable levels of proficiency. Encouraging Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL) students to become aware of, and effectively use, learner strategies is one way to assist them become more controlled, effective learners leading to enhanced language learning. This thesis investigates the development and implementation of a JFL curriculum implemented in a university course for students learning JFL. The curriculum was developed specifically to assist beginner university students with the development of learner strategies appropriate for a JFL reading context. The theoretical underpinning of the study was informed by Educational Criticism (Eisner, 1998), which aims to describe, interpret and evaluate the processes of interaction between the teacher, the learner and the curriculum and the students' learning processes in a tertiary JFL classroom. The study investigated the effect on student learning processes of a JFL reading program that incorporated explicit learner strategy instruction and identified factors that enhanced or impeded the development of learner strategy knowledge. The participants in the study were 29 students enrolled in the course, 10 of whom volunteered to undertake additional tasks, and the two teachers who implemented the curriculum. Data collection involved a number of different strategies to observe the students' participation in the classroom and learning experiences. Learning processes were investigated through TOL protocols, classroom observations, course evaluations, interviews, and learner strategy use measurement instruments (SILL, SILK and SORS) to document student uptake of learner strategies. The design of the study and its applied focus recognised my expertise as a JFL teacher, curriculum writer and researcher, an approach that aligns with the purpose of a Professional Doctorate. Four general thematics, or principles, were identified in this study: „h Explicit learner strategy instruction provides the context for students to develop awareness of learner strategies and take control of their learning; „h Collaborative learning and interaction with teachers offers students the opportunity for shared knowledge construction; „h Reflection offers teachers and students the opportunity to reflect on their own learning style and strategy knowledge, and raises awareness of other available strategies; and „h Diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds have an impact on curriculum implementation and student uptake of learner strategies. The study¡¦s methodological contribution is that it is one of the first in Australia to use Educational Criticism (Eisner, 1998) as a research methodology. The findings contribute to theoretical knowledge in the fields of Applied Linguistics, Second Language Teaching and Learning, Second Language Acquisition and JFL Teaching and Learning by offering new knowledge on the importance of learner strategies in the beginner JFL classroom, the potential of explicit strategy instruction, the value of reflection for both teachers and students, and the important role of the teacher in the process of curriculum implementation. The general principles identified and the findings of this in-depth study of a JFL classroom can be drawn upon to inform other teaching practice situations, and invite practitioners from not just Japanese, but from other language areas and other disciplines, to examine and improve their own practices, and suggest further research questions to pursue this line of enquiry.

The role of motivation and motivational strategies in Saudi students' communicative competence in English

This study explored how motivation and motivational strategies influence the communicative competence of students from Saudi Arabia. Participants included Saudi students enrolled in English courses in Australian educational institutions, and Saudi students living in Saudi Arabia studying in English language institutes in Saudi Arabia. Phase One involved interviews with16 participants. In Phase Two, 279 participants completed a questionnaire. Findings included differences between participants’ measured and self-reported communicative competence, with the Australian group having higher levels of measured and self-reported communicative competence. In addition, motivation teaching strategies were found to affect students’ motivation, but not their communicative competence.

Study of a geo-multicast framework for efficient message dissemination at unmanned level crossings

Collisions among trains and cars at road/rail level crossings (LXs) can have severe consequences such as high level of fatalities, injuries and significant financial losses. As communication and positioning technologies have significantly advanced, implementing vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) in the vicinity of unmanned LXs, generally LXs without barriers, is seen as an efficient and effective approach to mitigate or even eliminate collisions without imposing huge infrastructure costs. VANETs necessitate unique communication strategies, in which routing protocols take a prominent part in their scalability and overall performance, through finding optimised routes quickly and with low bandwidth overheads. This article studies a novel geo-multicast framework that incorporates a set of models for communication, message flow and geo-determination of endangered vehicles with a reliable receiver-based geo-multicast protocol to support cooperative level crossings (CLXs), which provide collision warnings to the endangered motorists facing road/rail LXs without barriers. This framework is designed and studied as part of a $5.5 m Government and industry funded project, entitled 'Intelligent-Transport-Systems to improve safety at road/rail crossings'. Combined simulation and experimental studies of the proposed geo-multicast framework have demonstrated promising outcomes as cooperative awareness messages provide actionable critical information to endangered drivers who are identified by CLXs.

Factors influencing the impact of primary and secondary prevention strategies for cervical cancer among Queensland women

Since the introduction of the National Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Program (NHPVP) in 2007, few studies have assessed women's knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards cervical screening and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in Australia. It is imperative to ascertain this, as substantial changes are anticipated to the National Cervical Screening Program (NCSP) through a process called 'the Renewal', to ensure any changes that are introduced will be acceptable and well understood by women. The objectives of this study were to describe Queensland women's current knowledge of cervical cancer/screening and HPV, their beliefs and attitudes towards Pap smears and the HPV vaccine and seek their advice on effective methods for communicating changes to the NCSP in their communities. This research was a descriptive-exploratory study that incorporated a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods within the context of the Health Belief Model (HBM). A computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) survey of 1002 Queensland women was conducted in Phase 1 of the study. During Phase 2 of the study, 23 focus groups were conducted throughout Queensland to gather in-depth information about women's knowledge, awareness and acceptance about cervical cancer prevention strategies. This study found high levels of awareness of HPV (over 60%) and the HPV vaccine (over 86%) amongst Queensland women. However, it also identified considerable uncertainty amongst participants about perceived susceptibility to cervical cancer, especially, the link between cervical cancer, HPV and sexual activity. Women also had limited understanding of the benefit of the Pap smear as a preventative strategy, with many women thinking the main purpose of the Pap smear was for the early detection of cancer. Despite high awareness of HPV, women participating in this study also had significant knowledge deficits about their susceptibility to HPV and the severity of HPV infection. Queensland women had high levels of awareness of the HPV vaccine, which was most commonly via the media. High acceptance of the HPV vaccine was found amongst participants although awareness of the full benefits of vaccination was not evident with little acknowledgement that the quadrivalent vaccine used in the NHPVP would also prevent genital warts. Extensive barriers to having Pap smears, including physical and psychological discomfort, were identified and the most common barriers to vaccination were concerns about side effects and a lack of information upon which to make a decision about consent. Women described enablers for screening participation, such as reminder systems and practitioner characteristics, and expressed positive views towards self collected testing as an enabler, particularly for women who did not attend screening. As this study was conducted with Queensland women it may therefore not be representative of women from other parts of Australia and as participants were more likely to report they were regular screeners than Queensland women overall, these results may not be representative of women least likely to participate in cervical screening. The use of self-reported cervical screening history may also have led to over-reporting of screening status and previous abnormalities by participants. This study reveals significant gaps in Queensland women's knowledge that require effective communication strategies to address. Recommendations from this study highlight the need for increased community education to raise awareness about primary and secondary cervical cancer prevention strategies, training of cervical screening providers in sensitive examination techniques, a reduction in costs associated with screening, the exploration of alternative service models and communication plans that incorporate methods women trust and recommend for disseminating information about changes to the NCSP. This study is the first large study to explore women's perceptions of the Pap smear and barriers to screening, their knowledge about HPV and their attitudes towards the HPV vaccine in Queensland, since the introduction of the NHPVP. It highlights considerable uncertainty about many aspects of cervical cancer and primary and secondary prevention strategies available in Australia and identified many barriers to cervical screening and concerns about HPV vaccination. These knowledge gaps and barriers need to be taken into account and addressed within the context of anticipated changes to the NCSP to ensure benefits are maximised for women in future primary and secondary cervical cancer prevention strategies in the Australian context.

Alcohol-related driving offences, crashes, and traffic policing strategies in Zhejiang Province, China

Context Alcohol-related traffic offences and associated trauma have attracted attention in China in recent years, culminating in changes to national legislation in May 2011. Harsher penalties were introduced, particularly for offences where blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels above 80mg/100mL are recorded. Deemed to be drunk under the law, this is now a criminal offence attracting penalties including large monetary fines, licence suspension for 5 years and imprisonment. Objective This paper outlines key statistics about alcohol-related road trauma in Zhejiang Province and strategies used to combat drink- and drunk-driving. Key Outcomes Zhejiang Province, in China’s south east, has a population of approximately 54, 426,000; 22.36% hold a driving licence. Rapid motorisation is occurring there. In 2011, 1,383,318 new licences were issued, representing a 16.78% increase from the previous year. In 2012, there were a total of 65,000 police officers throughout the Province, 12,307 of whom (18.9%) were traffic police. Responsibility for conducting alcohol testing is the responsibility of all traffic police. The number of alcohol breath tests conducted per year was not available. However, traffic police are actively enforcing alcohol-related laws. In 2011, 89,228 drivers were charged with drink-driving (DUI;20-80mg/100 mL) and 10,014 with the more serious drunk-driving offence (DWI;>80mg/100mL) (Zhejiang Traffic Management Department, 2012). These numbers decreased from the previous year (221,262 and 26,390 respectively). For all crashes recorded in 2011 (n=20,176), 2% involved alcohol-impaired road users. Information on the role of alcohol in crashes from previous years was not available. Discussion Various strategies are employed to detect alcohol-impaired drivers including: targeting vehicles from hotels/restaurants; using sense of smell to screen drivers for further testing; passive alcohol sensors to test drivers; and blood tests for crash-involved drivers where a fatality occurred. Although resources to promote road safety are limited, various government initiatives promote awareness of the dangers of alcohol-related driving and more are needed in future.

The health effects of temperature : current estimates, future projections, and adaptation strategies

Climate change is expected to be one of the biggest global health threats in the 21st century. In response to changes in climate and associated extreme events, public health adaptation has become imperative. This thesis examined several key issues in this emerging research field. The thesis aimed to identify the climate-health (particularly temperature-health) relationships, then develop quantitative models that can be used to project future health impacts of climate change, and therefore help formulate adaptation strategies for dealing with climate-related health risks and reducing vulnerability. The research questions addressed by this thesis were: (1) What are the barriers to public health adaptation to climate change? What are the research priorities in this emerging field? (2) What models and frameworks can be used to project future temperature-related mortality under different climate change scenarios? (3) What is the actual burden of temperature-related mortality? What are the impacts of climate change on future burden of disease? and (4) Can we develop public health adaptation strategies to manage the health effects of temperature in response to climate change? Using a literature review, I discussed how public health organisations should implement and manage the process of planned adaptation. This review showed that public health adaptation can operate at two levels: building adaptive capacity and implementing adaptation actions. However, there are constraints and barriers to adaptation arising from uncertainty, cost, technologic limits, institutional arrangements, deficits of social capital, and individual perception of risks. The opportunities for planning and implementing public health adaptation are reliant on effective strategies to overcome likely barriers. I proposed that high priorities should be given to multidisciplinary research on the assessment of potential health effects of climate change, projections of future health impacts under different climate and socio-economic scenarios, identification of health cobenefits of climate change policies, and evaluation of cost-effective public health adaptation options. Heat-related mortality is the most direct and highly-significant potential climate change impact on human health. I thus conducted a systematic review of research and methods for projecting future heat-related mortality under different climate change scenarios. The review showed that climate change is likely to result in a substantial increase in heatrelated mortality. Projecting heat-related mortality requires understanding of historical temperature-mortality relationships, and consideration of future changes in climate, population and acclimatisation. Further research is needed to provide a stronger theoretical framework for mortality projections, including a better understanding of socioeconomic development, adaptation strategies, land-use patterns, air pollution and mortality displacement. Most previous studies were designed to examine temperature-related excess deaths or mortality risks. However, if most temperature-related deaths occur in the very elderly who had only a short life expectancy, then the burden of temperature on mortality would have less public health importance. To guide policy decisions and resource allocation, it is desirable to know the actual burden of temperature-related mortality. To achieve this, I used years of life lost to provide a new measure of health effects of temperature. I conducted a time-series analysis to estimate years of life lost associated with changes in season and temperature in Brisbane, Australia. I also projected the future temperaturerelated years of life lost attributable to climate change. This study showed that the association between temperature and years of life lost was U-shaped, with increased years of life lost on cold and hot days. The temperature-related years of life lost will worsen greatly if future climate change goes beyond a 2 °C increase and without any adaptation to higher temperatures. The excess mortality during prolonged extreme temperatures is often greater than the predicted using smoothed temperature-mortality association. This is because sustained period of extreme temperatures produce an extra effect beyond that predicted by daily temperatures. To better estimate the burden of extreme temperatures, I estimated their effects on years of life lost due to cardiovascular disease using data from Brisbane, Australia. The results showed that the association between daily mean temperature and years of life lost due to cardiovascular disease was U-shaped, with the lowest years of life lost at 24 °C (the 75th percentile of daily mean temperature in Brisbane), rising progressively as temperatures become hotter or colder. There were significant added effects of heat waves, but no added effects of cold spells. Finally, public health adaptation to hot weather is necessary and pressing. I discussed how to manage the health effects of temperature, especially with the context of climate change. Strategies to minimise the health effects of high temperatures and climate change can fall into two categories: reducing the heat exposure and managing the health effects of high temperatures. However, policy decisions need information on specific adaptations, together with their expected costs and benefits. Therefore, more research is needed to evaluate cost-effective adaptation options. In summary, this thesis adds to the large body of literature on the impacts of temperature and climate change on human health. It improves our understanding of the temperaturehealth relationship, and how this relationship will change as temperatures increase. Although the research is limited to one city, which restricts the generalisability of the findings, the methods and approaches developed in this thesis will be useful to other researchers studying temperature-health relationships and climate change impacts. The results may be helpful for decision-makers who develop public health adaptation strategies to minimise the health effects of extreme temperatures and climate change.

Parametric modelling for the efficient design of daylight strategies with complex geometries

Daylight devices are important components of any climate responsive façade system. But, the evolution of parametric CAD systems and digital fabrication has had an impact on architectural form so that regular forms are shifting to complex geometries. Architectural and engineering integration of daylight devices in envelopes with complex geometries is a challenge in terms of design and performance evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to assess daylight performance of a building with a climatic responsive envelope with complex geometry that integrates shading devices in the façade. The case study is based on the Esplanade buildings in Singapore. Climate-based day-light metrics such as Daylight Availability and Useful Daylight Illuminance are used. DIVA (daylight simulation), and Grasshopper (parametric analysis) plug-ins for Rhinoceros have been employed to examine the range of performance possibilities. Parameters such as dimension, inclination of the device, projected shadows and shape have been changed in order to maximize daylight availability and Useful Daylight Illuminance while minimizing glare probability. While orientation did not have a great impact on the results, aperture of the shading devices did, showing that shading devices with a projection of 1.75 m to 2.00 m performed best, achieving target lighting levels without issues of glare.

What's in it for me? Virtual conspicuous donation strategies as a source of value in blood donation

Providing an incentive is becoming common practice among blood service organisations. Driven by self-orientated motives rather than pure philanthropic intentions, research is showing that people increasingly want something in return for their support. It is contended that individuals donate conspicuously with the hope it will improve their social standing. Yet there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of conspicuous recognition strategies, and no studies, to the researcher’s knowledge, that have examined conspicuous donation strategies in an online social media context. There is a need to understand what value drives individuals to donate blood, and whether conspicuous donation strategies are a source of such value post blood donation. The purpose of this paper is to conceptualise how conspicuous donation strategies, in the form of virtual badges on social media sites, can be applied to the social behaviour of blood donation, as a value-adding tool, to encourage repeat behaviour.

An IEEE 802.11p empirical performance model for cooperative systems applications

IEEE 802.11p is the new standard for Inter-Vehicular Communications (IVC) using the 5.9 GHz frequency band, as part of the DSRC framework; it will enable applications based on Cooperative Systems. Simulation is widely used to estimate or verify the potential benefits of such cooperative applications, notably in terms of safety for the drivers. We have developed a performance model for 802.11p that can be used by simulations of cooperative applications (e.g. collision avoidance) without requiring intricate models of the whole IVC stack. Instead, it provide a a straightforward yet realistic modelisation of IVC performance. Our model uses data from extensive field trials to infer the correlation between speed, distance and performance metrics such as maximum range, latency and frame loss. Then, we improve this model to limit the number of profiles that have to be generated when there are more than a few couples of emitter-receptor in a given location. Our model generates realistic performance for rural or suburban environments among small groups of IVC-equipped vehicles and road side units.

Self-Regulated Learning : key strategies and their sources in a sample of adolescent males

This study identified the key self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies and their sources for nine school-aged adolescent males aged 15 to 17 years. The Self-Regulated Learning Interview Schedule (SRLIS) was used along with semi-structured interviews with the participants and their parents to elicit information on SRL strategies and contexts for the formation of self-regulatory habits. Early habit-forming experiences of the family home in relation to homework and study routines were found to form an important base for effective SRL. Teachers were identified as the most common source of SRL strategies with important formative experiences occurring during the first two years of high school.

Monitoring policy and actions on food environments : rationale and outline of the INFORMAS policy engagement and communication strategies

The International Network for Food and Obesity/non-communicable diseases Research, Monitoring and Action Support (INFORMAS) proposes to collect performance indicators on food policies, actions and environments related to obesity and non-communicable diseases. This paper reviews existing communications strategies used for performance indicators and proposes the approach to be taken for INFORMAS. Twenty-seven scoring and rating tools were identified in various fields of public health including alcohol, tobacco, physical activity, infant feeding and food environments. These were compared based on the types of indicators used and how they were quantified, scoring methods, presentation and the communication and reporting strategies used. There are several implications of these analyses for INFORMAS: the ratings/benchmarking approach is very commonly used, presumably because it is an effective way to communicate progress and stimulate action, although this has not been formally evaluated; the tools used must be trustworthy, pragmatic and policy-relevant; multiple channels of communication will be needed; communications need to be tailored and targeted to decision-makers; data and methods should be freely accessible. The proposed communications strategy for INFORMAS has been built around these lessons to ensure that INFORMAS's outputs have the greatest chance of being used to improve food environments.